The Mandalorian's Bounties | Din Djarin

Chapter 24 | The Return (Part 1)

Cordelia and Grogu rush ahead as they hear fighting. They round the corner and find Din fighting the two troopers who took him away. One is taken out on the ground, the other choking Din as he readies his blaster to shoot him.

"No. No. No. No. No." Grogu presses the button as he breaks the trooper's blaster. Cordelia stabs him in the gap in his armor and Din spins around, kicking him to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Cordelia asks, frantically checking her husband for any injuries as Grogu sprays bacta over him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He assures them, his voice hoarse. She cuts the binds around his wrist and helps him stand. He wraps his arms around them, pulling them into a hug. Cordelia holds him tightly, needing to know that he's okay. "Grogu, we're going to need you to be brave for us, okay?" He babbles, looking at his parents. "We can't keep running. If we don't take out Moff Gideon, this will never end. You with me?" He asks, looking between his wife and son.

They both nod and Cordelia pulls them closer again, needing another moment before she's ready to go.

"I love you both, so much." She tells them, tearing up. Din tightens his arm around her and Grogu rubs her back, both hating the sight of her crying. "I was so scared." She whispers.

"I know, Delia. I was too." He tells her, pulling away so he can cup her face. He wipes her tears and rests his helmet to her forehead. "I wasn't scared for long because I knew you'd come. I knew you'd never let anything happen to me, just like I'd never let anything happen to you. We protect each other, we protect our kids. It's what we do."

"I'd destroy every planet in this galaxy before I let anything happen to our family." She says, kissing the top of Grogu's head and peeling back Din's sleeve to press a kiss to his wrist.

***

"Bo-Katan, come in." Din says.

"Received. Where are you?" She replies.

"We're safe. I escaped. Cordelia and Grogu are with me. We're going after Moff Gideon. Do you have a location?" He tells her, grabbing a jetpack from one of the fallen troopers.

"No. We are under attack. I have to get the troops to safety." Bo says.

"Understood." He replies.

"Be careful." Cordelia adds.

"Stay safe." She tells them.

The family moves through the halls, looking for any signs of Moff Gideon and avoiding any troopers they find.

"R5. Come in, R5. We need you, buddy." He tells the droid. He beeps, letting him know that he's listening. "You're gonna have to scomp into the base and get us the location of Moff Gideon's command center."

R5 beeps hesitantly, not wanting to return after what happened the last time he was sent down.

"I'm sorry. I don't speak Binary." He replies.

"R5, some of the most important members of the Rebellion were droids. I know you're just as brave and strong as them, you just have to believe in yourself." Cordelia tells him.

They continue moving through the base, hoping R5 pulls through and gets them the location of the command center.

"R5, how are those schematics coming?" Din asks after a while. He beeps, telling him that he's sending the location now. Din pulls up the hologram on his vambrace. "Got it. Good job, buddy."

"We're proud of you, R5." Cordelia adds. Din chuckles at her and she rolls her eyes. 

"That's the command center." He tells Grogu, pointing to it on the hologram. "The communications log says that's where he operates from. That's where we're goin'. Ready? Stay close. Let's go."

Din leads the way, Cordelia and Grogu staying close behind, not wanting to be separated again. 

"The command center is down there." He tells them, staying around the corner of the shields. "I don't have any weapons so this might get messy."

"Here." Cordelia says, holding her blaster out to him. He shakes his head, peeking around the corner.

"No. The walkway is narrow, the both of us won't be able to fight. Stay with Grogu and cover me." He explains. 

"Fine but take this." She tells him, pressing her knife into his hand. He nods and takes the weapon as she readies her blaster.

"R5. There's some barrier shields. I'm gonna need you to deactivate them one at a time. On my command. Got it?" Din says. He looks to Grogu and Cordelia.

"We've got your back." She assures him. He nods and turns towards the shields. 

"Deactivate the first shield." He tells the droid. R5 does and Din rounds the corner, fighting the two troopers on the other side. Cordelia peeks around the corner, firing at the troopers when she can. 

The troopers behind the other shields try to get them open, but R5 blocks them. Din takes the two out, only managing to get another knife from them. He slides a dropped shield back to Cordelia and she takes it.

"R5, next shield." He says. He advances as the shield opens and Cordelia moves up too, firing at the two new troopers. Din disarms one of them and uses his weapon to take out the other one. He takes his shield, and tells R5 to deactivate the next shield.

Cordelia moves forward with him, using the shield to block the lasers fired at her from one of the troopers. Din knocks him onto his back and Cordelia shoots him. Din takes the blaster from the other trooper and Cordelia shoots at him as he fires at Din.

"R5, next shield." Din says as he and the trooper fire at each other, blocking the shots with their shields. He repeats it as the last shield stays up, the smoke from their shots obscuring the view of the other troopers behind it.

The shield deactivates after Din takes out the trooper. He moves through the smoke cloud, quickly taking out the last two. He catches his breath as he checks that they're all down.

"R5, good job, buddy" He praises. 

Cordelia moves back to Grogu, leading him down the walkway to join Din, shoving the bodies over the edge to clear the way for him.

"Let's finish this." She says when they reach him. 

Din nods and keeps them behind him as they move towards the door, ready to finally defeat Moff Gideon.

Sorry this is late! I was super busy yesterday and didn't have time to write